


Two kids, One dragon.

by NinjaCraft



Series: Two Riders, One Dragon. [1]
Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, But they are too oblivious, Comedy, Cute Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon), Enemies to Friends, F/M, Idiots in Love, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, POV Third Person Omniscient, Romantic Friendship, Ruffcup Shipping, Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:55:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27879482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjaCraft/pseuds/NinjaCraft
Summary: He is the village screw-up. She is the craziest girl on Berk. He is smart, sarcastic, and really annoying. She is rude, crazy, and potentially dangerous. They could not be more different. Nothing could possibly bring them together.Well, almost nothing.When Ruffnut accidentally follows Hiccup into the woods, she finds out that they might have more similarities than differences.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Ruffnut Thorston, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Toothless, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Ruffnut Thorston, Ruffnut Thorston & Toothless
Series: Two Riders, One Dragon. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041310
Comments: 10
Kudos: 36





	1. This is Berk

**** **Narrator’s POV**

****

**_This is Berk. It’s twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It’s located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village. In a word, sturdy. It’s been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests._** A sheep is taken. **_You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have…_** A boy with dark brown hair, freckles, and green eyes opens a door then rapidly closes that door to block fire from a dragon. He utters one word, “ _Dragons._ ”

**_Most people would leave. Not us. We’re Vikings. We have stubbornness issues._** The Vikings try to fight off as many dragons as possible. To stop them from stealing their sheep, burning their crop, and destroying their village. The brown-haired boy ran through the village, trying to avoid as much destruction as possible. **_My name is Hiccup. Great name, I know. But it’s not the worst. Parents think a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn’t do that_**. An explosion knocks Hiccup off his feet, sending him to the ground. A Viking was running away from a dragon and yelling. When he came up on Hiccup, he said in the politest way possible, “Morning!”

As Hiccup ran through the village, he got a lot of, “What are you doing here,” and “Get inside,” from the Vikings. “Hiccup!” A large burly man with a red beard, and a furry cape pulled Hiccup away from incoming dragon fire. He turned to the people and pointed at Hiccup, “What is he doing…?” then he turned to Hiccup, “What are you doing out?! Get inside!” he ordered.

**_That’s Stoick the Vast, Chief of the tribe. They say when he was a baby, he popped a dragon’s head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes, I do._** Stoick asked a villager what type of dragons they were fighting.

“Gronckles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare.”

“Any Night Furies?” Stoick asked.

“None so far.”

“Good.”

Hiccup kept running towards the forge. When he got there, he slipped off his fur coat and put on an apron. The blacksmith there was another burly man with a peg leg and swappable hands.

“Oh! Nice of you to join the party!” the blacksmith said to Hiccup, “I thought you had been carried off!

“Who, me?” Hiccup asked sarcastically, “Come on, I’m way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn’t know what to do with _all this_ ,” Hiccup said while showing off his non-existent muscles.

“Well, they need toothpicks, don’t they?”

**_The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I’ve been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well, littler._**

Stoick kept giving instructions to his men, while a dragon burned a roof of a house near the forge.

**_See, old village, lots, and lots of new houses._**

“Fire!”

Six teenagers rushed to that house with a large barrel full of water. They filled up their buckets and went to put the fire out.

**_Oh, and that’s Fishlegs, Snotlout, my adopted sister Heather, the twins: Ruffnut and Tuffnut… …and… …Astrid._** Hiccup stared at her in awe as the house exploded behind them. It was awesome, and completely ruined their job. ** _Oh, their job is so much cooler._**

Hiccup stared at them through the window and tried to escape, but Gobber pulled him back into the forge.

“Oh, come on. Let me out, please,” Hiccup begged, “I need to make my mark!”

“Oh, you’ve made plenty of marks,” Gobber retorts, “All in the wrong places!”

“Please, two minutes. I’ll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date.

“You can’t lift a hammer. You can’t swing an axe. You can’t even throw one of these,” Gobber explained while holding up a bola. A Viking took the weapon and threw it at a Gronckle, taking it down.

“Ok, fine, but this will throw it for me,” Hiccup tapped his invention, but when he did, it malfunctioned and fired on a random Viking, knocking him out cold.

“See? Now this right here is what I’m talking about!” Gobber yelled.

Hiccup stammers out something about a mild calibration issue before Gobber says, “If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop _all this._ ”

“But you just pointed to all of me.”

“Yes, That’s it! Stop being all of you.”

“Ohh.”

“Oh yes.”

“Y-you, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping all this raw, Vikingness contained? There will be consequences!”

“I’ll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now.”

Hiccup hefted the sword to the grindstone and started to sharpen it.

**_One day, I’ll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed. Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely get me a girlfriend. A Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status._ **

“They found the sheep!”

“Concentrate your fire over the lower bank!” Stoick ordered. Then he looked down.

**_And then there’s the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._**

A Nightmare burst through the floorboards of the turret that Stoick was standing on, its body in flames. He told his men to reload and that he would take care of this.

A loud screech pierced the air.

**_But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one’s ever seen. We call it the…_**

“Night Fury!”

“Get Down!!”

The Fury shot the turret and the blast exploded on impact, crippling the turret.

“JUMP!!”

**_This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and…_**

The Fury blasted the turret again completely destroying it

**_…never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury, that’s why I’m going to be the first._ **

Hiccup walked to the entrance to the forge to see Gobber leaving. He switched one version of his hand for an axe. “Man the fort, Hiccup. They need me out there.” Before leaving he gave Hiccup simple orders, “Stay. Put. There.”

Hiccup looked at him incredulously.

Gobber took this as a question and answered with, “You know what I mean.” Then he charged out of the forge with a battle cry.

Hiccup took the opportunity and rushed out with his invention. He assured the villagers that he would be right back and ran to the other side of the village. He set up the cannon and got ready to aim. He kept turning the cannon, ready to fire at anything.

“Come on. Give me something to shoot at. Give me something to shoot at.”

A loud screech pierced the air.

As if the gods answered him, a Night Fury divebombed the turret next to him. The Fury’s plasma blast burst on impact, making a clean hole through the turret. The dragon flew through the hole, but before it could flee, Hiccup shot at it. The knockback from the cannon pushed Hiccup onto the ground. The bola hit the Fury, sending it to the other side of the island. The screech waned until it was no more.

Hiccup had done it.

He had actually done it.

“I hit it. Yes, I hit it!” Hiccup got excited and jumped up, arms in the air, “Did anybody see that!?” Hiccup was celebrating when he heard a crunch behind him. He turned around and saw a Monstrous Nightmare growling at him. “Except for you.” The Nightmare did not like to be not included, so it tried to eat him. Hiccup, who avoided that first chomp, screamed, turned tail, and ran away from the dragon. The Nightmare spewed fire at him, causing Hiccup to run into the village. He kept running, zigzagging every time the dragon shot at him. He finally took shelter behind a pillar-torch and cowered behind it as the dragon shot fire at the base of the torch. Soon, the fire stopped, and Hiccup turned to his right of the flaming base of the pillar, to see if the dragon was still there. It obviously still was, but Hiccup was just looking on the wrong side, but before the monster could eat him, Stoick stepped in.

He kicked the Nightmare in the face to get it away from Hiccup, then he braced himself for dragon fire. When none came, Stoick saw that the dragon had spewed out only glowing blobs of fire. It had reached its shot limit. “You’re all out,” Stoick acknowledged. Then, with no fear, Stoick fought the dragon with his bare hands until it flew off. He turned back to the pillar.

**_Oh, and there’s one more thing you need to know._**

The pillar’s base, that was completely burned away, collapsed, and fell, revealing Hiccup standing behind it. The bowl of fire on top of the pillar rolled away into the village, causing destruction everywhere. Hiccup said, “Sorry, Dad,” to Stoick, but it was too late. All the dragons that the Vikings had captured got free and left with as much as they could carry. The Vikings stared at the dragons in disbelief.

“Ok, but I hit a Night Fury.”

Stoick grabbed his son’s wrist and dragged him through the village. Hiccup continued his senseless rant until his father yelled at him to stop. Strangely enough, Hiccup stopped talking long enough for Stoick to start talking. “Every time you step outside disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here, and I have an _entire_ village to feed!”

“Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding,” Hiccup joked. Stoick however was not having it.

“This isn’t a joke, Hiccup!” Stoick sighed in annoyance, “Why can’t you follow the simplest orders?”

Hiccup replied with, “I-I can’t stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just kill it. It’s who I am, Dad.”

“Aye, you are many things son,” Stoick replied, “but a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house.” He looked at Gobber, “Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up.”

As Gobber walked Hiccup back to the house, they walked past his peers. Tuffnut and Snotlout jested about what occurred while the others stayed wisely silent. Hiccup didn’t say a word until they got close to the house, then he started talking.

“I really did hit one,” Hiccup started.

“Sure, Hiccup,” Gobber replied.

“But he never listens—”

“Oh, it runs in the family.”

“—and when he does, it’s always with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich.” Hiccup then went and imitated his father’s thick accent saying, “ _Excuse me, barmaid. I’m afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fishbone._ ”

“You’re thinking about this all wrong. It’s not so much what you look like, it’s what’s inside he can’t stand.”

“Thank you for summing that up.” Hiccup was about to go back inside.

“Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you’re not.”

Hiccup looked at him sadly and said, “I just want to be one of you guys,” before retreating into his house. Little did Gobber know that Hiccup sneaked out the back exit to go look for that Night Fury.

* * *

**Hiccup’s POV**

Hiccup looked up from his map, looked down at it, then looked up again. It was not there, just like the seventy-two other places he checked. Feeling a bubbling rage, instead of calmly crossing the place out, Hiccup furiously scrawled on the page, then put his charcoal pencil in his book and closed it. “Oh, the gods hate me,” he started, “Some people lose their knife or their mug. No, not me. I manage to lose an entire dragon!”

“That’s a horrible way to view life,” a voice said teasingly.

Hiccup halted dead in his tracks. He knew that voice. He spun his head around looking for the source of the voice, then he looked up. Lounging on a tree branch was one of the last people Hiccup wanted to see: Ruffnut Thorston.

“Ruffnut?”

“Hey, Haddock,” Ruffnut said smirkingly.

“W-what are you doing here?” Hiccup nervously asked her.

Ruffnut lazily climbed down the tree she was on, turned, and looked at Hiccup. “I might ask you the same thing.” She looked at him keenly, anticipating an answer.

Hiccup groaned in defeat. It was safer (for his well being) to tell her than lie. “I uh, am looking for the Night Fury I shot down.” Hiccup closed his eyes and braced himself for thunderous laughter. Instead, he got a soft chuckle from the girl. He opened his eyes. He did not anticipate that at all.

“Seems reasonable,” Ruffnut chuckled, still smirking at him.

Hiccup stared at her with shock and confusion. Ruffnut was the craziest girl on Berk. It was impossible to think she knew what reason is. “You believe me?”

“Haddock,” the girl started, “you lie about a lot of things. And when you do, you are completely horrible at it. So yes, maybe I do believe you. And besides, I saw you shoot down something."

Hiccup just stared at her, his mouth hanging open. What Ruffnut said was true, he was an atrocious liar. But he did not know what to think about her believing him. ‘ _She could help me locate the Night Fury,’_ Hiccup thought. A smile started to form on his face, but before asking he had to make sure of something first. “Where’s your other half?”

“Tuff?” Ruffnut tilted her head to one side, “Why? Do you think this is a prank?”

Hiccup’s expression answered that question.

She gave him an exasperated groan. “I come here to be _alone_ , Haddock. Yet you wander here looking for a _Night Fury_.”

Hiccup’s face flushed with embarrassment at her words. “S-sorry. I just needed to make sure this wasn’t a prank.”

Ruffnut blinked twice then said, “You’re paranoid, Haddock,” then started walking.

“I-I am not,” Hiccup countered.

Their argument had somehow bubbled down to a friendly conversation, which had never happened between them before. They were still looking for the dragon but conversed to pass the time. Until Hiccup remembered why they were here.

“Ugh, I’m never going to find this dragon,” Hiccup groaned. He hit a tree branch, which bent back and hit him in the face, but he did not care. “I mean it’s just my luck. I shoot down a dragon and it’s not here.”

“Haddock.” Ruffnut warned.

“I finally do something and what do I have to show for it?”

“Haddock!”

“Nothing! But it is probably a day in the life of Hiccup Haddock I guess.”

“HADDOCK!!”

“What!?” Hiccup turned around to see what Ruffnut was looking at, but what he saw excited him. There was a small gully that was probably made by a large creature. There were claw marks on some branches and roots meaning that this must have been a dragon.

“Still have doubts?” she asked, sarcasm lacing her words. Ruffnut jumped down first. Hiccup gave her a look, then jumped in after her. They walked through the gully looking for the dragon. When she came up to the last branch, she ducked behind it and gestured for Hiccup to come. When he did, they slowly looked at what was behind the branch: A Night Fury. Ruffnut effortlessly drew her dagger, while Hiccup fumbled around with his. She just rolled her eyes at this. The two went near the dragon in total silence before Hiccup broke it.

“Oh, wow. I did it. Ohh, I did it. This-This fixes everything! Yes!” Hiccup put his foot on the dragon, “I have brought down this mighty beast!” As he said that the dragon shifted its position, making the two back up a few steps.

“Still alive,” Ruff whispered to Hiccup.

“Yeah, I know that now,” He whispered back. The two inched toward the dragon while its eye snapped open. Gathering courage, Hiccup said, “I’m going to kill you, dragon. Then I’ll cut out your heart and take it to my father. I am a Viking. I am a Viking!” Hiccup had no idea why he was talking to the dragon, but it didn’t matter now. He raised his dagger and looked into the dragon’s eye, but once he did, he knew he could not kill the beast. The Fury closed his eyes and gave up, which was the last straw for Hiccup and Ruffnut.

“Haddock, we can’t kill this thing,” Ruff said, “I mean, look.” She gestured to the dragon.

“Yeah, I-I know.” Hiccup sighed.

“What do we do?”

Hiccup thought for a second and said, “We cut it free.”

“We WHAT!?” Ruffnut looked at him incredulously.

“I know how it sounds, but if we cut it loose, maybe it won’t kill us.” He said with an uneasy smile.

“Even after you trash-talked it?”

“It can’t understand me,” He said nervously, “Right?”

Ruff gave him a withering look.

“Ruffnut, please,” He begged.

She gave him one last scornful look and replied with, “Fine. But if it kills me, I swear I’ll kill you.”

“Fair enough.”

The two started to cut the Fury free, and when it was loose enough it jumped up and pinned the two to a large rock. They tried to back up, but they were stuck. The Night Fury let out a long roar, turned around, and left. The two were left stunned but overjoyed to be alive. They got up and did what any normal person would do: they passed out.


	2. Dragon Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed Heather's character a bit. Enjoy!

**Hiccup’s POV**

When Hiccup woke up, it was late in the evening and Ruffnut was gone. He picked up his dagger and noticed that Ruffnut’s dagger was still there. ‘ _She must have left in a hurry if she left that here_ ’ Hiccup thought. He picked it up, reminding himself to give it to her later. Standing up, Hiccup rushed back to his house, hoping his father was asleep.

When he got there, Hiccup had no such luck. Stoick was tending to the fire. Hiccup tried going upstairs without making a sound, but his father heard him. “Hiccup.”

“Dad,” Hiccup said, “I have to talk to you, Dad.”

“I must speak with you, too, son,” Stoick inhaled.

“I don’t want to fight dragons.”

“It’s time you learn to fight dragons.”

“What?” They both said.

“Uh, you go first.” Stoick asked.

“No, no, you go first.” Hiccup insisted. A mistake.

“Alright. You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning.”

“Oh, man, I should have gone first. Uh, because I was thinking, you know, we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings or small-home-repair Vikings?

Stoick obviously was not listening and dropped an axe in his son’s arms. “You’ll need this.”

“I don’t want to fight dragons.”

Stoick chuckled, “Oh, come on, yes you do.”

“Rephrase. Dad, I can’t kill dragons.”

“But you will kill dragons.”

“No, I am really very extra-sure that I won’t.”

“It’s time, Hiccup.”

“Can you not hear me?”

“This is serious, son,” Stoick’s voice grew stern, “When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us, you think like us. No more of—” He gestured to all of him. _“—this.”_

“You just gestured to all of me.”

“Deal?”

“This conversation is feeling very one sided.”

“Deal!?”

Hiccup sighed, knowing he couldn’t win. “Deal.” ‘ _Wow._ _Two arguments lost in one day. Way to go, Hiccup_ ’ he thought.

“Good.” His father said, “Train hard. I’ll be back. Probably.”

“And I’ll be here. Maybe.”

Then his father left the house and shut the door. Hiccup went upstairs to sleep, but heard snickering from Heather's room. He peeked inside. Judging by the amount of giggling she was doing into he pillow, Hiccup could assume she heard the whole thing. "Seriously?" 

Heather sat up, still laughing. "You have to go to dragon training," she giggled. "and he didn't even give you a choice."

Hiccup just stared at his sister, then shook his head. "Go to sleep." and with that, Hiccup went to his room to try to catch some sleep.

* * *

**Ruffnut’s POV**

“Welcome to dragon training!” Gobber opened the gate and let his new students enter.

"No turning back." Astrid said dramatically. Ruffnut rolled her eyes at her best friend's dramatics, but completely ignored them when she saw the kill ring. It looked epic, to say the least.

"I'm hoping to get some serious burns." Tuffnut said.

"I'm pretty sure that a scar or mauling would be more appropriate and fun, brother dear." Ruffnut joked.

"Yeah, its only fun if you get a scar out of it." Ruffnut could not tell if Astrid was joking or not.

This year’s class was consisted of the following: Snotlout Jorgenson, Astrid Hofferson, Heather Haddock, Fishlegs Ingerman, her brother, Tuffnut, herself and… Ruff turned to see the last member of the group: Hiccup Haddock. ‘ _Great._ ’ She thought, ‘ _What was he doing here?_ ’

Tuff took the words right out of her mouth. “Aw, great. who let him in?”

Gobber, ignoring him, said, “Let’s get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village.

“Hiccup already killed a Night Fury,” Snotlout joked, “so does that disqualify him?” The group (sans Hiccup) laughed and walked off. Hiccup looked at Ruff, the two were the only ones with any knowledge of the event. He gave her a look that said ‘help-me’ and she gave him a look that said ‘why-are-you-bothering-me-I-have-a-social-status-to-maintain-bother-me-later’ then she too walked away. Gobber said a few words to Hiccup, chuckled, then pushed him into the horizontal line the teens had formed and began to speak.

“Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight! The Deadly Nadder.”

“Speed 8. Armor 16.” Fishlegs listed.

“The Hideous Zippleback.”

“Plus 11 stealth. Times 2.”

"The Relentless Razorwhip."

"Venom 8. Stealth 5."

“The Monstrous Nightmare.”

“Firepower 15.”

“The Terrible Terror.”

“Attack 8. Venom 12.”

“Can you stop that?!” he yelled. “And the Gronckle.” Gobber put his hand on the lever.

Snotlout stepped forward, “Whoa! Whoa! Aren’t you going to teach us first?”

Gobber smiled. “I believe in learning on the job.” Gobber thrust the lever down, allowing the dragon to escape into the ring, and catching his students off guard as they scrambled to get out of the way.

By the end of the class, everyone (sans Astrid) had embarrassed themselves in some way. Ruff and Tuff fought over a shield, Fishlegs talked about his knowledge on dragons, Hiccup stood still for a minute, Heather harassed Snotlout, and Snotlout stood around to flirt. (He honestly could have won if he didn’t try to flirt with Astrid.) After Gobber put the Gronckle back in its cage, he told them the lesson of the day, “Remember, a dragon will always—” he looked at Hiccup, who had almost got killed, “—always go for the kill.” He picked the chief’s son up and left for the day. Hiccup looked like he was interested in almost dying as he looked at the crater the Gronckle made with intrigue. The two found a way to escape from the group, Hiccup’s way being easier since he was a social outcast. Ruffnut, however, had a harder time sneaking away from the group, but she did so, nonetheless. Because of this, Hiccup got to the forest a little before Ruff did.

“How long have you been standing there, Haddock?” Ruff asked as she walked over to where Hiccup was.

“Not long.” He replied.

“’Kay. And are you going to keep staring at that rope?” She joked.

He turned to her, “Of course not. I was just wondering if we could find that Night Fury again.”

“Are you kidding!?” Ruff gave him a shocked look, “The thing that briefly held my life in its claws? No. I personally don’t want to see the inside of a Fury’s mouth again, thank you very much. And besides, its probably long gone.”

“Come on, Ruff,” Hiccup pleaded, “aren’t you a little bit curious?”

She tried to give him a withering look, but she gave in anyway. “Fine. But only to make sure that you don’t die.”

“I’m good with that.”

“But I didn't even come here for that. I’m looking for my dagger. I left it here yesterday.”

Hiccup pulled her dagger out of his coat. “You mean this?”

Ruffnut’s eyes widened. “How did you…?”

“I picked it up yesterday.” He handed it to her.

She punched him lightly in the arm. “Thanks.”

He rubbed his arm. “No sweat.” At that moment Ruffnut remembered how she should be acting. Within two seconds, she had pinned Hiccup to the ground with her knee.

"This doesn't make us friends. Got it?"

Hiccup nodded shakily, spooked by the sudden action. "Now, can I breathe again?" Ruff got off him. Hiccup took a few large, exaggerated breaths of life.

They looked around for a few minutes until they came into a large cove. Hiccup sighed sadly. “Well this was stupid.”

Ruff looked at the ground and saw black scales. “Maybe not.” She pointed to the scales. Hiccup picked one up and touched it lightly.

Then the Fury appeared out of nowhere. The dragon tried to scale a wall of the cove, but when he could not, he glided down to the ground. Hiccup, fascinated, got closer while trying not to reveal his position. He gestured to Ruff to follow him.

“What?” She asked.

He motioned for her to come.

“You want me to come closer?”

He nodded.

She groaned but went anyway.

The two watched the dragon in awe in fascination. _‘It’s smaller than I imagined,’_ Ruff realized. She looked at Hiccup. He was doing something with his journal. She looked over his shoulder. He was sketching the Night Fury. “You’re pretty good at that.” She remarked.

Hiccup blushed. “Uh, thanks.” He looked back at the dragon who was still trying to escape. “Why don’t you just fly away?”

“Maybe it can’t. Look.” She pointed to the tail of the dragon. A tail fin was missing. Hiccup dabbed the page until the left tail fin was gone. The two kept observing the dragon and didn’t notice Hiccup’s pencil rolling out of his hand until it was too late. The Night Fury looked up at them. Hiccup tilted his head, and Ruff moved hers forward. The dragon mimicked both of their movements, keeping his eyes trained on them. They stood there for hours, waiting for the other to make a move. When evening came the two decided to leave, the Fury’s gaze lingering on them.

* * *

**Hiccup’s POV**

After leaving the cove, Ruffnut raced Hiccup back to the great hall. (She won. Obviously.) By the time that Hiccup got back to the great hall, it was raining. When he got there, Gobber was going over today’s lesson and the great hall was mostly empty.

“Alright, where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?” Gobber asked.

“I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble.” Astrid said.

“Yeah, we noticed.” Ruff chuckled.

Hiccup walked to get his food. Snotlout had said something to Astrid but he did not care to notice.

“She’s right, you have to be tough on yourselves.” Gobber looked at Hiccup. “Where did Hiccup go wrong?”

“He showed up?” Snotlout joked.

Hiccup took his food.

“He didn’t get eaten.” Tuffnut grinned.

Hiccup sat on a table next to them.

“He is never where he should be.” Astrid stated.

“Thank you, Astrid.” Gobber hit Snotlout upside the head, reminding him of his place. “You need to live and breathe this stuff.” He pulled out a small book, cleared the table with his mug, and set the book there. “ _The Dragon Manual_. Everything we know about every dragon we know of.” Gobber heard the thunder outside and sighed. “No attacks tonight. Study up.”

Tuff looked up. “Wait, do you mean read?”

“While we’re still alive?” Ruff groaned.

“Why read words when you can kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?” Snotlout asked.

Fishlegs got excited and talked about the book. Tuff shut him up by saying, “Yeah, that sounds great. You know, there was a chance I was going to read that—”

“—but now?” Ruff finished.

"You guys are just lazy." Heather shook her head.

Snotlout stood up. "You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." With that, he left, Fishlegs following suit.

After that, most of the teens left, leaving only Hiccup and Ruff. He came over to her table. “So, I guess we’ll share?”

“Ha! Of course not.” But then her eyes lit up. “But I wouldn’t mind if you read it to me.”

Hiccup picked up the book and sat down next to her. “Alright.” He cracked the book open. “Dragon classifications. Strike class. Fear class. Mystery class.” He flipped the page. “Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victim. Extremely dangerous—”

Thunder boomed outside, startling the two. Ruffnut unconsciously inched closer to Hiccup. They turned back to the book. Hiccup kept reading, saying everything aloud so Ruff could hear. It was very unnerving that every page had the words, ‘Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight.’ He kept flipping until he got to the page they wanted to see. “Night Fury. Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: hide and pray it does not find you.”

“But somehow it didn’t kill us. Twice.” Ruff noticed.

“I know.” He put the drawing of the Fury on the manual. “It doesn’t seem right. I’ll have to ask Gobber for more information.”

“What?! Are you serious?” She then did a “great” imitation of Hiccup’s voice. “ _Excuse me good sir, I’m afraid the dragon manual had absolutely no information on Night Furies. I was wondering if there is a sequel or maybe like a little Night Fury pamphlet I could see?_ ”

“That-That is a horrible imitation of me,” Hiccup thought for a moment. “but that wasn’t a bad idea.”

Ruff scoffed. “Are you even listening? It’s a bad idea at best. And don’t you think Gobber would notice your sudden interest?”

“Uh,” Hiccup’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I mean maybe he wou…”

Ruff put her hand up. “Don’t even start. Nothing gets past Gobber.”

Hiccup stood up. “I still have to try.”

Ruff rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Your funeral.” With that, she left the great hall, leaving only Hiccup there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! The kids have found Toothless, and Ruff is starting to warm up to the little klutz. Maybe.  
> (Snotlout didn't flirt with Heather because she is a Haddock. They are technically related)
> 
> See you next chapter -NC


	3. Toothless

**Hiccup’s POV**

“Hey, you know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies.” Hiccup said to Gobber. “Is there another book, or a sequel? Maybe a Night Fury pamphlet?” A blast seemingly came out of nowhere and melted the metal off Hiccup’s axe. Then Hiccup looked in front of himself to see A Deadly Nadder standing in front of him. _‘How did I miss that?’_ he wondered. Then Gobber yelled at him to shake Hiccup back to reality.

“Focus, Hiccup! You’re not even trying!” Gobber went on to lecture his students whilst Hiccup ran from the Nadder. “Today is all about attack! Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter!”

Fishlegs screamed from somewhere else in the maze. “I’m really beginning to question your teaching methods!” he yelled at Gobber. _‘So am I.’_ Hiccup thought.

Gobber, completely ignoring him, continued, “Look for it’s blind spot! Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike!” The twins were bickering somewhere in the maze, and Gobber commented on their ridiculousness. Hiccup ran into what he thought was a safe hiding spot before trying to talk to Gobber again.

“How would one sneak up on a Night Fury?” He asked.

Gobber, tired of all the questions, quickly replied with, “No one’s ever met one and lived to tell the tale. Now, get in there!”

Hiccup was, frankly, unhappy with that answer, but before he could ask more questions, Astrid and Snotlout motioned for him to get down. Hiccup didn’t know why they were down but followed suit anyway. Astrid rolled ahead first, followed by Snotlout, then by Hiccup. But Hiccup (being, well, Hiccup) failed his roll, attracted the attention of the Nadder, and ran. Once he was sure he was safe, he kept talking to Gobber, who was not listening to Hiccup in the slightest.

“Hiccup!” Gobber pointed to Astrid who was on top of the maze, trying to escape from the dragon. While jumping off the collapsing maze, she accidentally landed on Hiccup, her axe embedded in his shield.

“Ooh, love on the battlefield.” Tuff jested.

“She could do better.” Ruff smirked.

Astrid untangled herself from Hiccup and got up. The Nadder was quickly coming toward them, so she tried removing her axe from Hiccup’s shield (nearly taking his arm off in the process). In the end, she managed to get his shield off his arm and hit the dragon’s jaw with it, shattering the shield.

“Well done, Astrid.” Gobber commended her.

Astrid dawned an irritated expression on her face. “Is this some kind of a joke to you?! Our parents’ war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you’re on.” With that she exited the training ring.

Ruff came over and helped Hiccup up. “Uh, sorry about her. My best friend can get sort of…” she paused as she searched for the right word to say. “…competitive.”

“Thanks, but it was my fault. I got distracted.” Hiccup said. In an instant, kind and caring Ruffnut turned into snarky and sarcastic Ruffnut.

“Say it.” She smirked.

Hiccup sighed. “You were right. I probably shouldn’t have kept asking and should have took the hint.”

Ruff, seemingly content, replied with a simple, “Yep.”

With that, the two headed back into the woods, hoping to learn more about their downed friend.

* * *

**Ruffnut’s POV**

“Okay, here’s the plan: you get close to the dragon with the fish, and if things go south, I get us out of there.” Ruff held up her spear.

Hiccup groaned. “Why do I have to do it?”

“Three things: you can barely lift a spear, much less use it; I’m allergic to fish, and because I said so!”

“But…”

Ruff gave him a withering stare.

“Yes ma’am.” Hiccup looked down.

The two entered the cove, and Ruff hid her spear behind a rock while Hiccup got his shield stuck between two. Ruff just giggled as he tried to pull it free. When he saw that he couldn’t, he went further into the cove, looking for the dragon. Ruff sat atop a rock, watching him and ready to pull him out if necessary. Then the Fury took the bait. He came out of his hiding spot and stood in front of Hiccup, interested by the fish. He went close, mouth open wide, but growled and stepped back. Hiccup opened his coat and pointed at his dagger. The dragon growled in affirmation. Hiccup slowly unsheathed the dagger and dropped it on the floor. Then using his foot, he threw it into the lake. The Fury took this as a sign of trust, so he went forward and opened his mouth to eat the fish. _‘The dragon has no teeth?’_ Ruff thought.

Hiccup investigated the dragon’s mouth. “Huh, Toothless. Could have sworn you had—"

Suddenly ‘Toothless’ teeth came out of his gums and swallowed the fish in one bite.

“—teeth.” Hiccup finished. Toothless sniffed Hiccup for any signs of food, backing him into a rock. Ruff gripped her spear as a precaution. Hiccup whispered something to Toothless that she could not make out. Toothless regurgitated half of the fish he ate into Hiccup’s lap. Ruff cackled and dropped her spear, finding this hilarious. “A little help here?” Hiccup muttered to her.

“I’m enjoying this too much.” Ruff giggled. Toothless gestured for Hiccup to eat the fish. That made Ruff lose it. “He-He wants you to eat it.” She cackled, falling off her rock. When she got up, Hiccup had already taken a bite of the fish. Toothless gestured for him to swallow it. That made Ruff laugh even harder. Hiccup reluctantly complied and swallowed the fish. He gave Toothless an uneasy smile. Toothless tried mimicking the smile, and Hiccup held out his hand to try to touch Toothless’ snout. But Toothless did not trust them much, so he growled and flew to another side of the cove. Hiccup ran after him.

“Where are you going?” Ruff asked. But Hiccup was out of earshot or chose not to listen because he kept running toward the dragon. So, Ruff ran after him, but when she got there, Hiccup was already walking away from the dragon.

“Maybe that was a bad idea.”

“Yep.” Ruff confirmed. “Time to go?”

“No.” Hiccup shook his head. “This is the closest we’ve got to Toothless. We’re not leaving.”

The two passed the time by watching Hiccup draw Toothless. Ruffnut was in awe of how he expertly drew the dragon from memory. “And you didn’t look at Toothless?”

Hiccup shook his head.

Ruff looked up behind Hiccup. “You’d better keep drawing, Hiccup.” Hiccup, aware of who was behind him, kept drawing. Toothless watched Hiccup’s movements and wanted to try for himself. Toothless walked over to a nearby tree and tore a branch off. He started scribbling on the ground, attempting to draw a picture of Hiccup.

“What’s he doing?” Hiccup asked.

“I think he is trying to draw you.” Ruff answered. Toothless nodded as he finished his ‘work of art’. “Doing so expertly.” She giggled.

Hiccup gave her a look and accidentally stepped on a line on Toothless’ drawing. The dragon growled at him and he removed his foot immediately. Then he put his foot back, removing it only when Toothless growled at him. This went on for some time.

“What are you doing?” Ruff muttered to him.

“I think he wants us to escape the drawing.” Hiccup muttered back. The two started to leave the drawing, unconsciously both going toward Toothless. When they got there, they both looked at the dragon, who was lying there in wait, as if he expected them to come toward him. Hiccup held out his hand to the dragon and gestured to Ruff to do the same. The dragon initially growled at them, but when Hiccup convinced Ruff to let down her guard, the dragon gave in and nuzzled their hands. And just like that, it was over. Toothless left, leaving only two confused teens in his wake.

* * *

“And with one twist, he took my hand and swallowed it whole.” Gobber explained the story of his missing limbs, "I saw the look on his face: I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one took my leg."

Fishlegs was a little too interested. "Isn't it weird to think your hand was inside a dragon? Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from inside by crushing his heart. Or something."

"That is a disgusting, gruesome thought." Heather observed.

"I swear, I'm so angry right now." Snotlout grunted. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face." Ruffnut bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. She looked over to Astrid to see she was having the same problem.

Gobber shook his head. "No, it's the wings and the tail you really want. If it can't fly, it cant get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." At the time, the advice flew over their heads, well, most of their heads. "All right, I'm off to bed." Gobber yawned. "You should be too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys, slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?"

At that moment, Ruffnut tuned out, thinking about what Gobber had said. 'A downed dragon is a dead dragon.' Did that mean... 

Her brother talking about his totally-not-a-tattoo birthmark. "Ok, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before." Ruffnut shook her head.

"Yes, it was." He contradicted. "You've just never seen me from the left side before."

"Yes, I have. and birthmarks are not red." Ruffnut noticed that Hiccup was gone. She excused herself, most of her friends following suit. She resisted the urge to follow Hiccup, and went to bed, hoping he didn't screw anything up tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter, I know. News: I will not post another chapter next week because of Christmas.
> 
> Until next chapter. -NC

**Author's Note:**

> Hello There! There is not enough Ruffcup anywhere, so I decided to write some myself. I hope you liked this chapter and feel free to comment. I love constructive criticism.
> 
> See you next chapter. -NC


End file.
